Gardens by the Bay was recognised as one of eight 'Urban Sustainable Products' at the inaugural ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Awards (ASTA) held in Chiang Mai this year.

The annual awards aims to "promote responsible, inclusive and sustainable tourism destinations, products and behaviours across ASEAN" to enhance the competitiveness of the region as a "coherent global destination".

Situated in the heart of Singapore's city centre, the horticultural-themed attraction houses close to 1.5 million plants from all over the world and features two cooled conservatories, Flower Dome and Cloud Forest.

Underlying the concept of the Gardens are the principles of environmental sustainability, with examples including the use of horticultural waste to generate energy to cool the conservatories and solar energy to light up the iconic Supertrees.

Commenting on how the win will garner interest from MICE groups, Darren Oh, senior director of business development at Gardens by the Bay said, "There is no equivalent to Gardens by the Bay in the region, and these unique concepts have propelled the Gardens into the international consciousness as a must-see attraction. This, in turn, raises the profile of Singapore as a 'City in a Garden.

"The award is an acknowledgement of the effort that Gardens by the Bay has put in to become a sustainable venue and we hope it will raise the profile of the Gardens among MICE groups with sustainable agendas."